Opinions of holland america

[gag0630]

Need opinions of holland America ships. How old isthemajority of the crowd. Are there shows in the evenings. We just turned 60. is it for us?

[puppycanducruise]

DH and I love HAL. Have sailed 4 times and looking at another. We are in our 50s, took our first cruise with them 12 years ago. I think we are a bit younger than most of the passengers, but there is quite a mix depending upon what cruise itinerary, length of cruise and time of year.

We usually don't bother with the shows - not for us.

Check out the HAL boards for more info.

[Keith1010]

You might also want to post this on the HAL Board.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

It all depends on what ships you select to sail on and length of cruise. The older ships that do the majority of the longer cruises tend to attract a much older crowd.

If you choose the new Signature class ships, you will have a diverse age group. Those ships would be the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam. These 2 ships also have cabanas on them that you can rent. And they have the Silk Den for cocktails and the Tamarind Restaurant (Pan Asian food) which we love.

Yes -- there are shows in the evening.

[gag0630]

Thank you, we are going for 7 days to the carribean. The travel agents are talking me out of holland America, saying there is nothing to do after 10pm. And there are no shows. I wanted to try them since I like the islands they visited, but am afraid to. Thanks for your input

[CruiserBruce]

Thank you, we are going for 7 days to the carribean. The travel agents are talking me out of holland America, saying there is nothing to do after 10pm. And there are no shows. I wanted to try them since I like the islands they visited, but am afraid to. Thanks for your input

 

Your travel agent appears to have a financial motive to move you to another cruise line, as the TA is flat out lying. There are definitely shows on HAL- some reading on the HAL board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

 

would confirm that.

 

As mentioned, the time of year and the length of cruise can skew the demographic of any cruise line and ship, not just HAL.

[CaroleSS]

I would agree with Bruce. We are in our late 50s and somehow managed to close down the bars every night (and it was :eek: AFTER 9pm!!)

 

Honestly, we managed to keep ourselves occupied until after midnight when we wanted to. We always found a group somewhere to join. One night we went to the piano bar....there was a fellow who played the piano for Frank Sinatra onboard and he tickled the ivorys for us! He was fabulous!

 

Our last cruise was on Celebrity's Reflection. It really WAS dead after about 9am!!

[marco]

HAL is one of our favorite lines. Yes, there are shows at night, there's a piano bar that usually attracts a nice little crowd, there's a disco that though not packed with 20-somethings, attracts a a decent crowd that enjoys dancing to danceable music and not the techno-crap of today. Aside from all of that, a couple of the reasons we like HAL so much is the closable dome over the main pool in the event of not so ideal weather, the overall fit and finish of everything onboard and (our opinion) HAL has the most comfortable bedding. If you are planning a 7 day Caribbean cruise the demographics will be a bit younger overall than longer cruises, regardless of the line.

[Putterdude]

We have done exactly one cruise with HAL, it was on the Oosterdam and frankly it was the worst cruise we have ever had. The ship was filthy, all of the linens stained including towels and table linens, the food was all served luke warm at best and we just wondered what everyone saw in HAL. We certainly won't be back....there are to many other options out there. We did a Christmas cruise so the demographic point was fairly average with all the families aboard.

[OCruisers]

HAL ships work well for us on port intensive cruises when we want to return to a quiet ship and don't want to stay up too very late in the evening.

 

We've found the service on HAL to be quite good.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[CowPrincess]

Need opinions of holland America ships. How old isthemajority of the crowd. Are there shows in the evenings. We just turned 60. is it for us?

 

The age of the crowd can and does vary from week to week, cruise to cruise. We did a B2B on HAL in the W Carib, and the first week it was a pretty lively, social group, mostly mid-40s to mid-60s. The second week was a LOT less lively and social, and we were some of the youngest onboard at 50ish.

 

Yes, there are shows in the evening.

 

To answer "is it for us?" we'd probably need to know what you want from a cruise.

[Lady Chew]

We have taken several long cruises on HAL (14 days, 34 days, 75 days, etc) and on those cruises we have been among the younger cruisers (hubby is early 60s, I just turned 60). We've still had a great time and met some wonderful people. Entertainment, however, was not at all to our taste, very old-New York and clubby. Old-style comedians, old jokes about old people. Even though there were a few tribute shows, Beach Boys & Four Seasons which we loved, the majority of the audience sat through them pretty stone-faced. The piano bar was also geared towards older music as well. Very good pianist, but still ... not to our taste.

We have taken one Caribbean cruise on HAL, 10 days on the Noordam. There were many, many multi-generational families with lots of children. The shows were more enjoyable. We were at Half Moon Cay the same day as the Westerdam and there were hundreds of children and young families around. Lots of fun!

[Laurie S.]

I love HAL, but our last cruise pretty much turned me off due to the passenger makeup. It wasn't necessarily that the passengers were old (we're a young 60 and 65), but their behavior and personalities were very offputting. It's like the majority thought the ship should be like a retirement home. We love to have fun and laugh, and we can be boisterous doing it, especially in the bar and dancing venues. Why take a cruise if you can't have fun? Plus, I got tired of getting the glares from so many of the senior women for the way I was dressed. I was dressed very nicely, in some expensive dresses, and I showed a bit of cleavage. Nothing excessive, no danger whatsoever of falling out, but you would have thought I was stark naked by the looks I got.

 

The HAL crew is wonderful, the ships are wonderful, and about 25 percent of the passengers are wonderful. It's that other percentage who are a pain in the butt and are why we are now sailing Carnival.

[boulders]

I just turned 50. I've been on one looong HAL cruise with 2 teenagers and a 7 year old. It took one day to decide that it was my new favourite line. It's also my teenage dd's favourite line.

 

My first cruise was a 7 day to the Caribbean on Royal Caribbean in January. That had the oldest demographics of any of my cruises. The time of year will really dictate the demographics of a particular cruise. There were more families on my HAL cruise than there were the previous summer on my Princess cruise. Both were at the same time of year. One was to Europe (HAL) and one was to Alaska (Princess).

[jewopaho]

I'm 72, my wife is four years younger. We sail with Royal Caribbean and Princess ... our parents cruise on Holland America!

[CaroleSS]

the glares from so many of the senior women for the way I was dressed. I was dressed very nicely, in some expensive dresses, and I showed a bit of cleavage. Nothing excessive, no danger whatsoever of falling out, but you would have thought I was stark naked by the looks I got.

 

I think they were just jealous!!!

[travelnap]

Need opinions of holland America ships. How old isthemajority of the crowd. Are there shows in the evenings. We just turned 60. is it for us?

 

I have sailed on most of the mass market lines and have enjoyed them all. I am just under your age and I think the biggest thing that I have seen through the years is that the itinerary you are on makes more of a difference than on what line you are on in regards to the age demographic aboard ship. I have done a couple of TA's which are longer trips. One was on RCI and the other was on HAL. They both had an older demographic because of the time of the year and the length of the cruise.

 

HAL does have shows at night, but I am not a big show person, so I don't go to many shows, no matter which line I am sailing with, so I can't tell you how good they are. Food is subjective to all of us, but I have never starved on any of the cruises that I have been on. I would rate HAL above average and have enjoyed dining with them.

 

One of the best things I do enjoy about HAL is that they have some excellent itineraries. I am currently booked on the 10 day southern Carib. on the Noordam next month, and I chose this trip because only one port is a repeat port for me, and I like to see different places. I have been to most of the various Carib. ports on the other lines, so I really liked the ports on this one because of the new ports available for exploration. HAL also has a very good library at sea if you enjoy reading as much as I do.

 

I have found friendly and courteous people on any line that I have sailed on and I have also met the DYNWIA type people on each line, so some things don't vary that much from line to line.

 

If you like the itinerary I would give HAL a chance, if not, find an itinerary with a different line and give them a try. Good Luck, and Happy Sailing.

[sail7seas]

Thank you, we are going for 7 days to the carribean. The travel agents are talking me out of holland America, saying there is nothing to do after 10pm. And there are no shows. I wanted to try them since I like the islands they visited, but am afraid to. Thanks for your input

 

 

Your TA needs more training or re-training.

For the TA to tell you there are no shows is ridiculous for a mass-market cruise line. ;)

Makes one wonder what other misinformation that TA passes along?

We have sailed over 80+ cruises on HAL. Safe to say we love that cruise line. :)

[mtwingcpa]

I have found friendly and courteous people on any line that I have sailed on and I have also met the DYNWIA type people on each line, so some things don't vary that much from line to line.

 

I can't find a definition for DYNWIA anywhere on the internet. What does that mean?

[LindaM]

I would not choose HAL for the Caribbean. I love it in Europe (particularly Prinsendam). HAL has fabulous itineraries there. I could be wrong, but I think once it's liberal wine policy is changed in January, the younger people are going to leave for Celebrity and RCCL. Then you really will be left with the older people!! HAL has always been known as a cruiseline for older people. People here may argue that point, but it is true.

 

What is your reason for choosing HAL instead of Celebrity or RCCL, if I may ask? Just curious. I really haven't heard anything great about the HAL ships, other than Maasdam and Amsterdam. Which ship are you considering?

[CruiserBruce]

I can't find a definition for DYNWIA anywhere on the internet. What does that mean?

 

Do You Know Who I Am.

 

Perhaps you couldn't find it because the poster you quoted "spelled" it incorrectly. DYKWIA is the way I have seen it.

[headhunterke]

The HAL crowd tends to be older, yet much calmer of course. Or at least, most of them ;-)

Of course, if you are travelling during school holidays, you'll see a serious increase of kids and teens on board. But even then, it's all very manageable. You'll find people of all ages on board and they kinda tend to gather together during the activities or some more adventurous shore excursions. But being 60, I think you'll have a great time on HAL. They have a little sophisticated touch with speaks to older crowds. Also, the ship at times can seem empty later at night, but yet there are activities, shows, music etc.

 

I'd switch travel agent, no doubt. He's talking BS. The show plays twice every night. It is true there less to do then on RCI, but that's mainly because the crowd on those kind of ships is much much younger. However, the piano bar, casinobar en some other music venues can close pretty late at night. So unless you're planning to party hard until 4am, HAL has a good match between rest and entertainment.

[tip]

We have been on six HAL cruises and for the most part we have enjoyed the laid back ambiance and outstanding service. If you are looking for non stop action, loud pool parties with hairy chest contests, (etc.), HAL may not be for you.

 

Now I must admit, we do have concerns with HAL. They still allow smoking on the balconies and that does not sit well with us (or with many others if you read these boards). The suits (corporate) are not listening or are choosing not to hear the 81% of the American adults who are non-smokers.

 

For years we enjoyed the classical music quartets after dinner. The suits who are running HAL have cut them back evidently to save some dollars. BIG mistake!:(

 

We are not in any rush to return to HAL until the suits at the top get with the program!

[dorisis]

Your travel agent appears to have a financial motive to move you to another cruise line, as the TA is flat out lying. There are definitely shows on HAL- some reading on the HAL board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

 

would confirm that.

 

As mentioned, the time of year and the length of cruise can skew the demographic of any cruise line and ship, not just HAL.

 

Time to get a new travel agent. HAL is not an old peoples home but it is a more traditional style cruise than many of the larger cruise lines. No ice skating, rock climbing, zip lining or flow surfing. No hairy leg contest or belly flopping. And usually very few children.Tastefull decor and excellent food and service.

[mtwingcpa]

Perhaps you couldn't find it because the poster you quoted "spelled" it incorrectly. DYKWIA is the way I have seen it.

 

Thanks for your help/clarification. Yeah, I wondered if maybe it had been misspelled or miss-formatted in some way.